Mrs Bennet's Family
by sysa22
Summary: This story is a prequel to 'Don't flatter yourself'. It is about Mrs Bennet's family - before and after she became Mrs Bennet. Sample only. Rated T for allusions to adult situations and violence, no descriptive content of either
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi

Here is the backstory of my characters from DFY.

Since this is all original, I'd love to know what you think.

I hope you enjoy.

'Mrs Bennet's Surprising Connections' by Sydney Salier. © Copyright 2019

It is now available on Amazon as Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and paperback.

The first 10 people who PM me, will receive a Kindle copy.

~~~oo00oo~~~

**Prelude **

**1782**

Her Grace, Amelia Flinter, Duchess of Denton, looked on with amusement at the manoeuvrings going on across the room at Almack's. Her son Alexander Flinter, Marquess Denton, appeared to be the focal point for many of the young ladies who were vying for his attention.

Even without the bias of a mother's affection, Alexander was a very desirable addition to the marriage mart. The son of the Duke was tall and well built, handsome and charming. The young ladies, and some not so young, were fluttering like butterflies around an exotic bloom. Alexander was thoroughly enjoying himself. At the age of twenty, he had not yet become either blasé or cynical about the attentions being showered upon him.

The two most assiduous ladies appeared to be Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam and Lady Penelope Bronsant. Lady Catherine was the younger sister of the Earl Matlock, whose excellent reputation and wealth, made his sister eminently eligible.

Lady Penelope, whose father was the Duke of Cardic, was even better positioned. She was also the prettier of the two.

The Duchess, who knew her son well, immediately realised that Alexander was more interested in the softer look of the second girl. She hoped, that if it went any further, there would be more to interest him than a pretty face. After all, he would have to spend many years in her company.

She knew only too well how incompatible personalities could make life difficult in a marriage. Even though she had never been romantic, she had expected to at least become friends with her husband. Instead they were still virtual strangers after one and twenty years of marriage. He was always polite to her, but had no interest in her ideas or her opinions.

It had started so well. Considering that her parents were the Duke and Duchess of Brastone, she learned from an early age that she would be expected to marry for duty. To her, at the time, it seemed a good reason. That was what one did.

She had her coming out when she was sixteen and in her first season had met the young Duke of Denton, who at the age of five and twenty had seemed very mature and exceedingly charming. She had been flattered when he paid attention to her. Her parents had been overjoyed. He was then of prime marriageable age and everyone expected him to select a wife in short order. While he courted her, he appeared to listen to her every opinion. Therefore, when he offered for her, she was most happy to accept.

In retrospect, she suspected that her husband had chosen her only for her connection and dowry.

After they were married, she found out that he had listened so attentively, because he had very little conversation himself. Apart from politics, a subject which in his opinion was incomprehensible to the female mind, and therefore not worth the bother to discuss with his wife, he was only interested in sport. Whereas sport was a subject Amelia truly had no interest in, although like any good wife of her acquaintance, she had perfected the art of appearing to listen while her mind was elsewhere.

Therefore, apart from ensuring that they had the requisite, heir and a spare, as well as an accidental late arriving daughter, they rarely saw each other. He spent most of his time in London, particularly when parliament was sitting, while she stayed predominantly at their estate. Although she did not ask, and he was very discreet, she was certain that a major attraction of London was his mistress. As long as he was discreet and did not embarrass her, she did not care.

Since she and her husband spent little time in each other's company, she had devoted her life to look after their tenants, her children and her friends.

She was also an inveterate matchmaker. Unlike most of the match-making mothers though, she was interested in matching people who had a chance to be happy together.

Although she usually looked for matches of similar status. she had no problems with people of good character, who were technically of a lower station, as long as the personalities were compatible.

She sometimes wondered if she had turned into a romantic after all. Then she decided that it only made sense to marry somebody you could be comfortable with. That was only logical.

And now she watched the literal and figurative dance going on between her older son and the ladies.

She was so engrossed in the view, that she did not notice the gentleman approach. 'Your Grace, what a delight to see you again.'

Startled out of her reverie, the Duchess looked at the speaker and gave him a genuine smile. 'Lord Matlock, how wonderful to see you as well. It has been much too long.' She addressed her old friend.

'It has indeed. I gather we are here for similar reasons?' Andrew Fitzwilliam, Earl Matlock looked at the group surrounding Alexander Flinter, which included his much younger sister, Lady Catherine.

'It was a pity your father died at the beginning of the last season. Your sister must have been devastated on at least two accounts.' Amelia Flinter was sympathetic to her old friend.

'She was undeniably upset. Perhaps that is why she is trying to make up for lost time this season. I have hardly seen my bed because of the number of balls to which I had to escort her.'

'How is your wife, I hear congratulations are in order again?' the duchess smiled.

'She is as well as can be expected. Richard on the other hand is doing extremely well. He has a powerful set of lungs and can make himself heard in the whole house.' The proud father boasted ever so slightly.

The duchess laughed. 'In that case, he might be destined for a military career. He will be able to make himself heard even on a battlefield.'

'Heaven forfend. Susan would worry herself sick.' Protested Fitzwilliam.

'I also hear that your sister Anne has become engaged to George Darcy.'

'Indeed, she has. Those two are besotted with each other. I am delighted about it though. Particularly since Pemberley is not too far from Matlock. Anne and Susan will be able to visit quite easily when we are at home.' Lord Matlock declared. 'But enough of me, how is your family. I can see that Alexander is well, but what about the others?' He asked about the two younger children.

'Francine is a joy. At the age of ten she is already becoming quite the lady.' The Duchess smiled fondly, thinking about her young daughter. 'Robert on the other hand is becoming more reckless by the day. He is eight and ten now, and I worry that one day he will break his neck, racing his horses. But since my husband encourages him, there is nothing I can say.'

Fitzwilliam laughed. 'I am sorry, Your Grace, but I remember a very young hoyden who challenged me to a race. Do you remember her perchance?' He finished with a twinkle in his eyes.

'Yes, I do remember her, but she grew out of that phase by the time she was Robert's age,' disclaimed Amelia.

'Far be it from me to cast aspersions on your veracity, but I believe one can never out-grow such a basic trait of character. At best one can camouflage it successfully.' He smiled at her.

With twinkling eyes, she conceded, 'Perhaps.'

Earl Matlock changed the subject. 'What think you of a match between Alexander and Catherine?'

'Much as I like you, I do not think those two are suited.' Replied the Duchess.

'More's the pity. I would have liked to count you as family. But even I can see where his interest lies.' Conceded the Earl.

'It is early days yet. We have to wait and see.'

~~~oo00oo~~~

Meanwhile Lady Catherine was fuming. She was determined to make the most advantageous match possible. As the daughter and sister to an Earl, she had excellent connections, only marginally inferior to Lady Penelope, whose father, although a Duke, was very retiring and therefore had not much influence in the House of Lords. She herself had much better connections.

And yet, Marquess Denton paid attention to Lady Penelope rather than herself. What did that girl have, other than a pretty face?

Although Lady Catherine would not admit this even to herself, she was angry with her father for dying at such an inconvenient time, robbing her of the previous season. She had been so very excited to be presented and then attending her first ball on the day of her eighteenth birthday. She had looked forward to meeting charming and attentive gentlemen, and having her pick of potential husbands. She knew she was not the prettiest woman, but she was striking in appearance.

Then, not a week later, her hopes were dashed. Her father died and although they had not been overly close, society expected her to mourn him. By the time she was allowed to re-join society, the season was over.

Now she was resolved to make up for missed opportunities. Marquess Denton was everything she wanted in a husband, good looking, amiable, an excellent dancer and, most importantly, the oldest son of a Duke. She would have him and Lady Penelope would have to look elsewhere.

~~~oo00oo~~~

Lady Penelope hovered at the edge of the group surrounding the Marquess Denton. She was a shy young lady and had only recently come out into society and was still uncomfortable in large gatherings. Staying in the group around the Marquess felt relatively safe.

He made a point of including her in the conversation. Admittedly, he was titled and handsome, but she felt he was gentle. She did not even realise that she was smiling at the young man more than she normally did. She only knew that she would dearly get to know him better and maybe have a friend in such gatherings.

After all, with all those ladies competing for his attention, he could not possibly be interested in a shy wallflower, as she thought of herself. But it was marvellous when he smiled at her.

~~~oo00oo~~~

The Marquess was a gregarious man by nature. He was having a delightful time chatting with all those lovely young ladies.

He was of course aware that he was on the marriage mart, but he was not in any hurry to chose a bride. He was at Almack's because it was expected of him. But that did not stop him from enjoying the company.

He was amused at Lady Catherine's attention, rightly considering her to be a woman who was more interested in status than marital felicity. Although he expected to marry someone of similar consequence, like his mother, he hoped to find someone with whom he could at least be friends.

Lady Catherine did not measure up to his ideas. On the other hand, there was this obviously shy young woman who appeared to be very sweet. He delighted in drawing her into the conversation and was pleased when he received a grateful smile for his efforts. He hoped she would be at many of the events he expected to attend.

~~~oo00oo~~~


	2. Chapter 2 - Dinner

A/N: 'Mrs Bennet's Surprising Connections' by Sydney Salier. © Copyright 2019

It is now available on Amazon as Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and paperback.

The first 10 people who PM me, will receive a Kindle copy.

~~~oo00oo~~~

**Dinner **

**1782**

Dinner at Denton House the following week, was a very successful affair. The guests included the Duke and Duchess of Cardic and their daughter, Lady Penelope, the Earl Matlock and his sister, Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam. Young Baron Standby rounded out the numbers.

Soon after dark, young Barton, the butler's son came to inform the Duke that it had started to snow heavily. Convinced that the snow would stop in short order, the Duke encouraged his guests to remain and wait to go home when the weather cleared.

By the time it had gotten so late that the guests needed to leave, so much snow had fallen and was still falling, that it was impossible for most of them the reach their homes.

Under the circumstances, the only thing to do, was to offer rooms to spend the night to all the guests. The unexpected guests filled the house to capacity, but nobody had to share a room.

Since there was now no need to concern themselves about braving the cold, the gentlemen soon congregated in the library and the billiards room, where several of them made severe inroads into the supply of port and brandy. Eventually even the most hardened drinkers retired to their rooms. One of the last to bed was Alexander, who was rather under the weather. He definitely needed the assistance of his valet and was asleep as soon as his head touch the pillow.

~~~oo00oo~~~

As it happened to her occasionally, particularly after an evening of entertaining when her mind refused to settle, the Duchess left her rooms to collect some reading material from the library. Since she was very familiar with the house, she did not trouble taking a light as the occasional lamp was sufficient for her to see, and very quietly she ghosted through the hallways.

As she rounded a corner to pass her son's bedroom, she spied another form in the hall, quietly opening the door the Alexander's room. Even in the dim light, she could discern that the form was obviously female and clad in nightclothes, which in this case had been supplied by the hostess. Based on her observation of dark hair and quite a tall frame, she had more than a suspicion about the identity of the interloper.

'You really do not want to go there, Lady Catherine.' the Duchess said in a low voice, startling the lady so addressed.

'Mind your own business,' Lady Catherine snapped, assuming the voice belonged to a maid.

The Duchess was more amused than offended, although poor manners were abhorrent to her. 'My son is my business, and since you are obviously trying to compromise him, your behaviour is my business too.'

'He invited me, Your Grace.' Lady Catherine blustered.

'My dear girl, even if he was sober enough to invite you, which I doubt, it was your duty to decline the invitation. Otherwise you will be considered to be a harlot.'

'He compromised me, he will just have to marry me.' Catherine protested.

The Duchess was shaking her head. 'You just compromised yourself by being where you have no right to be. I am sorry my dear, but as much as I like your brother, I prefer my son to marry a woman who will not embarrass him. For your brother's sake I will forget what I saw today. Do we understand each other?'

When Catherine did not respond, the Duchess continued quietly. 'You had best go back to your room and give up this scheme of yours. Because of tonight, you will never succeed. If you try again, I will speak out against you and _no_ man will want to marry you. Do you understand?'

'You would ruin me?' Lady Catherine was shocked.

'No, you ruined yourself by your actions tonight and you need to learn that actions have consequences,' came the merciless reply.

Lady Catherine looked into the implacable eyes of the Duchess and conceded defeat. 'I seem to have lost my way in the dark. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Good night, Your Grace.'

'Good night, Lady Catherine.'

~~~oo00oo~~~

By morning it had stopped snowing. Servants had been sent to collect clothing for the guests from their homes, but there was still too much snow on the road for carriages to move about safely.

The guests at Denton House settled in for a relaxing day. The men were spending most of their time in the library, but joined the ladies for meals and tea.

The young men of the party made the most of the opportunity to chat with the young ladies, since it was a rare occurrence to spend so much time in each other's company. Lady Catherine appeared a little subdued but spoke politely to the Baron.

Alexander Flinter, Marquess Denton, was happy to flirt with Lady Penelope. He was intrigued by her shy demeanour and kept trying to draw her out. She found it difficult to speak to him, since he had captured her interest, but propriety demanded that she be demure. At the same time, she abhorred the idea of being perceived as coy. As a result, Alexander had to work hard to get her to speak to him.

Lady Penelope, do you enjoy reading?' He asked, hoping to find a topic agreeable to her and was rewarded with a happy smile.

'I take great pleasure in the plays of Mr Shakespeare, Lord Denton, although I must admit I prefer his comedies. I do so adore stories with a happy ending.' She blushed at venturing her opinion.

'Do you have a favourite?' He was curious to learn more.

'I do so love "A Midsummer Night's Dream".' Lady Penelope replied, blushing even more. 'I think it quite magical.'

Alexander smiled and half teasingly replied, 'You would make a wonderful Fairy Queen.'

To which Lady Penelope protested, 'You flatter me unconscionably. I have seen the play at the theatre and I am not nearly beautiful enough.'

'On the contrary, you do not give yourself nearly enough credit. I think you are very beautiful.'

He delighted in being able to get her to open up a little. Having to make such an effort had an interesting effect on the young man. Since Lady Penelope was not throwing herself at him, he wanted to get to know her better. Much better.

Both Duchesses noticed his interest and exchanged glances which told each of them that the interest was welcome.

Over the next few weeks they managed to arrange things in such a way that the two young people were often in company. Such proximity eventually resulted in Alexander Flinter proposing to Lady Penelope with her parents' approval. The families were of the same rank and similar wealth, therefore by society's standards they were a perfect match. That they liked each other was even better as far as their mothers were concerned. As a matter of fact, that liking was _considerably_ more on both sides.

In May of that year, Marquess Denton married Lady Penelope. After their four months long wedding tour, they settled at Denton Manor to await a joyous event. The young wife had just noticed her condition and shared her news with her excited husband.

~~~oo00oo~~~


End file.
